Drug abusers and/or addicts typically may take a solid dosage form intended for oral administration containing one or more active drugs and crush, shear, grind, chew, dissolve and/or heat, extract or otherwise tamper with or damage the dosage form so that a significant portion or even the entire amount of the active drug becomes available for administration.
There are various routes of administration an abuser may commonly employ to abuse a drug containing formulation. The most common methods include 1) parenteral (e.g. intravenous injection), 2) intranasal (e.g., snorting), and 3) repeated oral ingestion of excessive quantities, for example, of orally administered tablets or capsules. One mode of abuse of oral solid drugs involves the extraction of the active component from the dosage form by first mixing the dosage form with a suitable solvent (e.g., water), and then subsequently extracting the active component from the mixture for use in a solution suitable for intravenous injection of the drug to achieve a “high.”
Alternatively, an abuser may convert a precursor compound found in a dosage form, such as pseudophedrine or ephedrine to methamphetamine, by illicit chemical processes. Examples of such methods include the Nazi Method, the Red Phosphorus Method, and the Shake and Bake Method.
There is a growing need for novel and effective methods and compositions to deter abuse of pharmaceutical products (e.g., orally administered pharmaceutical products) including but not limited to immediate release, sustained or extended release and delayed release formulations for drugs subject to abuse.